TAMPA – In extensively retooling the Islanders during the offseason, general manager Mike Milbury thought he had addressed the team’s power-play shortage from last season.

With the additions of Garry Galley, Roman Hamrlik and Mike Stapleton, the Islanders seemed sure to improve upon their 23rd-ranked PP position.

But upon first impressions last night, the power-play unit, albeit more expensive, might be just as ineffective.

By going scoreless on all eight attempts, including during the final 1:23 of overtime, the Islanders were forced to settle for a 3-3 tie against the Lightning in the season opener for both clubs before an Ice Palace record-crowd of 20,686.

Including the six preseason games, the Islanders are 3-for-51 on the PP.

“That’s been our Achilles heel,” second-year coach Butch Goring said. “We work on it all the time. I thought the power play was as good as it could be without scoring. There was a lot of opportunities going toward the net. Sooner or later it’s going to go in.”

In fact, Goring seemed pleased with the team’s overall performance, especially with Claude Lapointe, who scored two goals, including the one that sent it into OT with 10:03 left in regulation. That goal was particularly dazzling as the 31-year old veteran used gorgeous stickwork before beating Dan Cloutier with a forehand.

“That’s a Wayne Gretzky kind of move,” Goring said.

Lapointe’s first goal came on a freakish short-handed breakaway with 4:18 remaining in the second. As Lapointe was coming off the bench on a change, Zdeno Chara’s clearing pass off the boards just happened to be there for him.

Lapointe, who had a career-high 15 goals last season, found himself all alone as he went in from the blue line and beat Cloutier with a short forehand flick.

Though the score was 2-2, the Islanders were dominating with a 24-11 shot advantage. They would finish the game with a 36-24 edge in that department.

But the Lightning continued to make the most of their chances when, with 15:01 remaining in the third, defenseman Petr Svoboda scored on a shot from the point that deflected off the leg of Lapointe for a 3-2 lead.

In his Isles debut, John Vanbiesbrouck made 21 saves. Like his teammates, he was particularly impressive in the first period as he stopped all seven shots.

The Islanders, meanwhile, took a 1-0 lead when veteran Roman Hamrlik went high and far side past Cloutier from the top of the left circle with 12:24 left in the first. The blistering slap shot, which came from the top of the left circle, deflected off the crossbar.

Despite having 11 new players in the lineup from last year’s opener (also at Tampa), the Islanders seemed to revert to their old selves in the second period, when, in a span of 4:15, the Lightning scored two goals to take a 2-1 lead.

The initial score came at 4:34 when Pavel Kubina flicked a shot in the slot past Vanbiesbrouck for a power play goal. Then Mike Johnson converted on a set-up by 20-year old star Vincent Lecavalier at 8:49.

But unlike last season when comebacks were a rarity, this vastly improved Isles club found a way to get a point.

“It wasn’t as big a step as we would like to take,” Goring said. “But it was a step.”